


Against All Odds

by faerybones



Category: Lost Girl
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon, Sexual Tension, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Warning: Alcohol Use, Warning: Death Mention, Warning: Mild Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-11 17:06:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5634961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faerybones/pseuds/faerybones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The love of her life is dead. The love of his life is marrying someone else. Kenzi reunites with her Fae friends after two years on her own after having realized her life is a bit too tame without them around. She feels empty and alone, missing her dead fiance more and more as time passes. But there's one person who shares her pain like no one else does, and when they re-connect, it's against all odds. Can empty souls Kenzi and Dyson turn a spark into something more? (Post-Season 5)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Hello Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys. This is my first Lost Girl fanfic and I've been thinking about writing this all day and night. I literally could not fall asleep yesterday because I was so excited to begin writing it. Personally, for whatever reason, Dyson/Kenzi is my OTP. Not sure how that happened but it makes sense if you think about it, right? Anyway, this is only the prologue to set everything in place. I'm sorry it's so long. I'll try to make the coming chapters shorter if the length is bothersome! Let me know what you think. Also, I do plan on writing some pretty sexual things. And maybe a touch of violence, too. All while being as canon and in-character as possible. That's why this is marked as Explicit, though in this chapter, nothing explicit will happen. 
> 
> Try to bare with me on this and please enjoy.

Two years. Seven hundred thirty-one days. One hundred four weeks and three days. Seventeen thousand five hundred forty-four hours. That was how long it had been since Kenzi Malikov last saw her best friend’s face. 

Of course, Kenzi missed Bo. Sometimes she missed her so much that her chest ached. And Bo Dennis, the seductive Succubus babe that Kenzi loved wholeheartedly, thought that this was what Kenzi actually wanted. To get away from the Fae once and for all, to not be tied down by the drama and often times disaster-inducing apocalypses that being near Bo meant Kenzi would face.

And it _was_ what Kenzi wanted. Or so she thought. She had seen enough of her friends and acquaintances die to know that being a part of the Fae world was indeed not always fun and games. Her own fiancé taught her that lesson. 

Hale was on her mind and in her heart every day since he had passed. How cruel fate had been to take him away from her right after they decided to spend the rest of their lives together. She would never forget him and the way he made her feel loved and strong. As far as anyone was concerned, she would always be his lil momma.

And oh god, Trick, her favorite barkeep and Blood King, who was practically her own grandfather as much as he was Bo’s (or maybe a wise uncle who mostly loved Kenzi but sometimes rolled his eyes in her general direction – but that was probably warranted because she probably stole something important, and, oh gosh, it couldn’t have been that important, right?). 

Then there was Tamsin, who Kenzi raised during her final life cycle and watched blossom back into her snarky old yet impossibly young and beautiful self. After giving birth to her daughter, a lovely little addition to their peeps, Tamsin left the earth and instead took to the sky, a warrior straight through to her dying breath.

It wasn’t as if Kenzi hadn’t known pain and loss and suffering in the human world. She was definitely no stranger to it, and she had adapted her lifestyle to get her through the rough patches. But nothing could have prepared her for losing not only her friends and fiancé, but even herself. When she sacrificed herself, it was only through the love and perseverance of Bo finding a way to sneak into Valhalla to bring Kenzi back, alive and kicking. Or, you know, alive and kicking her very claustrophobia-inducing coffin six feet under the ground.

One doesn’t go through all of that trauma and sanely subject themselves to more. Right? Kenzi shook her head. So much time had passed, but she felt vacant. She went to go live in the estate in Spain that Hale left to her in his will. Kenzi had needed that time away so desperately, for her mental and physical health. But it was growing to be… cheerless. Even her favorite activities grew mundane. She would be sunbathing by the pool, Spain’s weather permitting, drinking endless cocktails, doing absolutely nothing but lazing around. It was perfectly fine. But she was only ever fine. Nothing more, nothing less. And there was nothing glamorous about that.

Kenzi sighed and tucked a lock of hair, black again, behind her ear. She was doing fine even now with her third Sex on the Beach that afternoon. A human servant (of course, she wouldn’t travel all that way to be waited on by Fae) brought her a plate of hors d’oeuvres. He was in his sixties, hair grey, mustache off the hook. His nickname was—

“Jeeves?” 

Jeeves, whose real name was Henry, heard Kenzi, suppressed a sigh, and spun around to face her again. He tucked the now empty silver platter under his arm and held his hands together in front of him. “Miss Malikov, I’ve told you, that’s not my name.”

“Oh yeah? Prove it. I need cold, hard evidence with a photo ID. Now, Jeeves! Hurry!” Kenzi exclaimed, ever the jokester. “And I do believe I told you to call me Kenzi.” She mocked his formal speech and slurped her fruity drink up through a blue silly straw.

Jeeves nodded. He would pretend he was a bitter old servant man, but Kenzi saw the glint in his brown eyes whenever they joked around. They’d even shared hugs on her birthday once. But he usually preferred to keep himself professional, and Kenzi hated that. Henry was just about her only friend these days.

“I’ll call you Kenzi when you stop asking me if you can, how did you put it—Ah, yes, stroke my mustache?” said Henry, shaking his head curtly.

Kenzi sat up faster than if someone had said there was a free wine-tasting nearby and blurted, “It’s got knobs! _Knobs_ , Henry! Seriously. Where did you learn how to facial hair because they taught you _really_ well—“ 

“Miss Malikov, was there something you needed from me? Because the chef needs me in the kitchen, and then the maid asked me to help her clean up your mess from last night; I told you it was a bad idea to throw a party with strangers. Raquel has her work cut out for her. So, you understand, I’m really _very_ busy. Plus, I assume you’ll be wanting another cocktail?”

Kenzi feigned hurt and annoyance. “Whoa there, Jeevesy boy. I didn’t ask for your life story. Let’s keep things professional here.” She sucked the last bits of juice from her glass and held it up for Henry to take. “I just had a question, bro.”

Henry waited patiently now, though two years ago, his patience was much thinner. She had trained him to be more patient and accepting of her, though not on purpose. It was more of an over-exposure type of situation.

Kenzi proceeded. “I was just wondering – how much do you know about the man who owned this place?”

Henry paused, eyes unsure of where to look. This was getting a little too awkward now. “Erm, you mean the man to whom you were, uh, betrothed?”

Kenzi smiled warmly at fond memories, but mostly at the thought of being married to Hale. He was taking care of her, giving her the lifestyle she’d always dreamed about having, even in his death. “Yeah. What did you know about him? Did you ever meet him?”

It was weird to think she’d never asked Henry about Hale before. When she first started living here, she mostly just told herself not to think too much because her brain needed a serious break. She had needed time to heal, far away from Fae. But now, she wondered just how much Henry knew. Was he another Fae’s human who got sucked into this gig? Or did he just think some young rich guy bit the dust too early in life and left his favorite vacation home to his beloved bride-to-be?

She wasn’t sure why she was asking, really. But she had Fae on her mind today. Some weird curiosity itched away at her.

“I met him once. He hired me years ago, told me that he would take care of me as long as I took care of the estate, even while no guests resided. He seemed very kind and charming.”

Good. It was better that Jeeves was in the dark about the Fae. And even better, in Kenzi’s opinion, that he didn’t “belong” to any one of them.

If not belonging in the Fae world was such a gosh darn gift from God, why the hell was going back to it all that Kenzi could think about?

*****

What was better than serving up smiles at the Dal Riata? Dyson could think of a couple things, like maybe being the one drinking the beer, but who was he to complain? Trick left him the bar years ago, and he wasn’t about to hand it over to someone else. Well, full time, anyway. True, he only bartended once a week and let the manager he hired do the rest. Dyson had a life, after all. 

Like pining after a woman who was magical and beautiful. Certainly the best sex he’d ever had in his long, long life. His one true mate. Bo. 

But she was taken now, happily, for—was it two years already? Yes, it was two years since Kenzi left. Since Bo decided to be with Lauren, the human doctor who he learned to befriend and, yes, he even learned to love and care about her. 

The funny part about it was how impressed Dyson was with himself over how accepting he was of Bo and Lauren’s relationship. It was constantly flaunted in front of him, the two of them holding hands, having drinks together, laughing, kissing, smiling from ear to ear at the other… But not tonight, not right in front of him. They had decided to have a quiet night at home together. 

He knew it was selfish to pine for Bo. As far as Dyson was concerned, she would be with Lauren until her human years met their end and Bo was left all alone. That would take a handful of decades, which Dyson was finally at peace with. And Bo even made it easier for him by vowing not to have healing sex with him (she got her snack on through other Fae, ones that weren’t in love with her). Certain love was worth waiting for. Until then, he would be there for Bo in whatever way she needed him to be. She would always be his queen.

A middle-aged Fae couple at the bar thanked Dyson for their drinks and slammed some money on the counter for him to take. He grabbed it, gave a little courteous nod, and went to fill the register. “Let me know if you need anything else,” he said over his shoulder absently. In all his years, he’d been a soldier, a warrior, and most recently, a cop, but never did his noble wolfliness ever stoop to serving drinks and food at a local bar. He still found it to be a bit beneath him, a tragic waste of his skill set, which was why he went from seven days to one day per week, using one of his days off as a cop to work behind the bar, but for Trick, he would graciously continue until his own end. 

In Dyson’s pocket, his phone vibrated three times and continued to do so. He closed the register, uncertain of who could be calling. The Ash? Unlikely. He’d just visited the Compound a few days ago to check in. Nothing was happening with the Light Fae that was note-worthy. Truthfully, the quiet was kind of boring, yet still a welcome change from all the chaos that followed the group around.

On his screen, he saw the name of the devil herself: Bo. He furrowed his brows, but smiled and answered the call. “Bo, are you all right?”

“Dyson! Hi! Yes, of course, we were just—“ there was a faint pop in the background that sounded suspiciously like a bottle of champagne being opened, then a playful yell and woopsie-daisy, “—just celebrating! So lighten up, will ya?”

It was true, Dyson’s first thought when Bo called was danger. It was hard to shake that mindset. It felt good to be understood, and he found it to be pretty funny. The perk in her voice was refreshing and contagious. He let out a short, deep chuckle. “What are we celebrating? That you found the wine opener? Was it at the bottom of the one drawer—“

Bo said, “No, silly! Listen, I’m really sorry; I didn’t want to tell you this over the phone, not you, of all people, but I couldn’t wait because… I need advice. And you’re my friend, so I thought you should know the moment it happened.”

Something inside of Dyson pulled at the center of him. A deep, sinking feeling. A quiet revulsion threatened to overtake him while, confusingly enough, he was pleased to hear Bo so gleeful. But she was on the phone with him, about to say the words he dreaded as one might fear something inevitable. 

“Dyson, I proposed. Lauren and I, we’re engaged!”

There it was. Dyson knew it. But he also knew she wouldn’t call just to rub his nose in it – she knew of his feelings for her forever and always, and she would never be that cruel. There was a purpose behind this phone call, and he thought he might know what it was. 

Now more than ever, it was important for him to be supportive of their relationship and continue to allow it to flourish. “Bo, that’s wonderful. Congratulations to the both of you. I knew this day would come, and it’s amazing, really.”

“Oh Dyson, thank you. I know, I wasn’t sure if she would say yes at first, but then I remembered that that was stupid, so I just went for it, and—anyway, I’ll tell you all about it some time, but I just have to ask, because I trust your advice more than anything,” Bo started, babbling fast and excitedly but turning more serious and slow as she went on, “It’s about Kenzi.”

Dyson mind wandered out of the bar, the news of Bo’s engagement shocking him and the reminder of Kenzi’s existence pulling him back. Briefly, he wondered what Kenzi was doing at that very moment. Luckily it was a quiet night at the Dal, the only thirsty patrons being the middle-aged couple and a few younger-looking Fae playing billiards and throwing back a few pints. He could afford to take this call without pissing anyone off. “What about Kenzi?”

Her face flooded his vision. First came her bright silvery blue eyes, then her mischievous smile and her dark silky hair. He would always see her with black hair, no matter what color it might be these days. He really missed his weak human friend and all of her adorable humor and incredible bravery.

Everything that Bo started saying was very serious from that point on. Even Lauren in the background of the call stopped pouring champagne. It was dead silent. Bo said, “I want to respect her wishes, Dyson. I don’t want to involve her in anything Fae. I told myself I wouldn’t contact her unless she asked me to, or unless there was another death in our Faemily, as she’d put it. But… I really think she’d want to know about this. Even be here for it. Be my Maid of Honor or _something_.” 

It made Dyson quite morose to think that the love Bo and Kenzi shared wasn’t as strong as it once was. They weren’t living together, drinking together, taking private cases together, living nearly the same lives as one another. Not anymore. That kind of sisterly love should never fade, he thought.

Bo went on. “And really, how dangerous could a Fae wedding really be? Right? Albeit, one of us is human, but they changed those outdated laws forbidding Fae/Human romance two years ago! And there hasn’t been any Fae-rinormal activity lately, so we should be good…”

“Bo, you know that Kenzi would want to know,” said Dyson encouragingly. “I think you already know the answer. You need to call her. Let her decide how or if she wants to act on the info. Oh, and tell her hello for me.”

He could hear the smile in Bo’s voice when she responded. “As usual, you know just what to say. Shouldn’t surprise me anymore, but it does. Thank you, Dyson.”

“You are always welcome.” And he wasn’t just saying that. Keeping Bo happy was his main priority these days.

“We three should catch up some time. Us and Lauren, I mean. I don’t know about Kenzi yet. Obviously. But you’ll be the first to know. Okay, well, I’m babbling. Text me when you’re free. I’m going to make that call to Kenz. Good-bye.”

Dyson could have been imagining it, but when Bo said “good-bye” instead of “bye,” something about her tone felt like despair, like she was trying to communicate something much larger than the end of a phone call. Something like the end of an era, it seemed.


	2. I Knew You Were Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenzi's back in town, ready to reunite with all of her Fae friends. First stop? The Dal, her old favorite hang, where she goes to seek Dyson's help to surprise Bo with her return. She runs into a certain shifter she's glad to see but also manages to piss off the wrong person.

Kenzi lounged on her bed in her pajamas as Raquel, her house maid, cleaned her room. They were both very quiet, which wordlessly told the maid that something was wrong with Kenzi. She let the silence continue and kept working on clearing the floor of all the clothes skewed about. Kenzi was staring at her phone as if it was a crystal ball with answers to all of her questions. To Fae or not to Fae? That was the main question.

She missed her friends back in Canada, or what was left of them. Bo, Lauren, Dyson, Mark, hell, even Vex, who made a great recovery the last she’d seen of him. And what was with that new human of Dyson’s? Was she still hanging around or did he shake her loose? God, what was her name again? Alyssa? Alice? Something like that. Kenzi didn’t really take the time to hear all about it back then. She just wanted to get back to her home in Spain, far away from everything Fae, so there wasn’t much time for a reunion.

But now, there could be. Because yesterday, her Succubestie called her with the big news. Her best friend and her former foe, who she grew to tolerate and even care about, were to be wed! How magical, thought Kenzi sincerely. A smile spread across her face at the image of Bo in a beautiful white dress. If she didn’t help her best friend plan her wedding, there was no telling if Bo would ever forgive her. Hell, there was no telling if Kenzi would ever forgive _herself_.

With that in mind, Kenzi came to a realization. “I’m doing this. I’m actually doing this.”

On the phone, Bo never asked Kenzi to visit and be a part of the wedding planning and the actual wedding. Kenzi supposed that Bo didn’t want her to feel pressured to. But Kenzi had been thinking about returning anyway, and this was the most perfect reason in the world for her to hop on the next flight overseas.

“¿Haciendo qué, senorita Kenzi?” said Raquel dutifully, continuing to pick dirty laundry up off the floor and shove it into the hamper plastered at her waist.

Kenzi was about to press the button to call Bo to tell her the good news, but at the last moment, she chose to make her coming back home a surprise. “Oh, nada, nada. Mi, uh, hermosa. I’m going to go see her.” 

And from that moment onward, nothing could stop Kenzi from packing up the essentials and booking a one way ticket to Canada.

*****

Rain pattered against the roof of the Dal and all over Kenzi’s hair and face. “Of course it rains when I come to town,” she muttered, picking up the suitcase she had dropped for a moment. She thought maybe it was a sign that she shouldn’t have come back to an incredibly Fae-saturated territory, but she shrugged away those brief and admittedly silly feelings quickly. 

“Time for momma to get her vodka on,” she said quietly to herself, knowing she’d need the liquid courage to face Bo and whatever dangers she was getting into that night, if any. 

What was she thinking? Of course Bo was getting into trouble. She wouldn’t be Bo if she wasn’t. So, just the one drink… or two… And besides, Kenzi was secretly hoping to see her wolf man, Dyson. She could use one of those giant hugs he was so good at giving. 

She was excited for plain old human interaction. Or plain old Fae interaction. Sure, Kenzi made a few new friends in Spain, but it wasn’t the same. They all paled in comparison to Bo and the others, who had all been through so much together. Laughter, tears, pain, happily ever afters, happily _never_ afters, in Kenzi and Hale’s case. 

Kenzi would have loved to be staying at the Clubhouse – her favorite little crackshack – with her bestie, Bo. She actually really missed her old bedroom in the attic. It was cozy for a building that always felt like it was going to collapse. But there wasn’t much left of it, she remembered with a sad twisty knot in her stomach, right as she was about to walk into the Dal. Bo had burnt the Clubhouse to the ground a couple years ago to show her dear old daddy that she really meant business. It was forgiven, though, considering that stunt helped Bo save the world. Kenzi doubted with all of her being that they rebuilt her hideous old home, especially since it had been an abandoned building with no rent obligations when Bo first found it. It just wasn’t worth the effort.

Kenzi assumed that Bo was living at her doctor’s house, especially now that they were planning to get married. Kenzi really didn’t want to stay there and crowd their space. Sure, Lauren and Bo would _say_ they didn’t mind her staying; they would probably even accommodate her with a guest room and her own fridge space. But after a few months, they would almost certainly start to wonder why she hasn’t found a place of her own to stay at. 

Maybe Kenzi would book a hotel room. She loved hotels, anyway, even if they reminded her now of Valhalla and everything she left behind in her death to join again the living.

“Okay, apartment hunting tomorrow, crashing in Trick’s old lair tonight,” she decided. It wasn’t like Trick was around to protest, spouting out some nonsense about a human sleeping in the midst of a waystation for Fae. He would probably still let her stay there, but he would be sneaky about it, she guessed. He was wise, and she would follow the protocol she thought he would have given her if he were around. As long as no one knew she was there and as long as the door to his lair wasn’t locked, her plan could work. Still, it would feel a bit creepy to lay her head in a dead man’s private home.

With that sinking feeling still inside of her, she pushed open the doors of the Dal, dark wet hair sticking to her forehead and neck. She pulled her suitcase along behind her. It wasn’t too heavy; it only had her essentials (pounds and pounds of shoes, makeup, and a few of her favorite pairs of underwear). What could she say? Kenzi had to have her favorite kicks.

The bar was just as warm and comforting as it used to be. The white fairy lights still hung above and over mantels and arches, blending with the wooden décor in an inviting way. The burning scent of hard liquor and the familiar smell of some of her favorite brews entered her lungs. The Dal was pretty packed tonight, but then again, it was Friday. The only thing that was missing was the Blood King serving up free drinks (well, free for her) behind the bar.

In Trick’s place was a handsome young man with dark brown hair, tanned skin, and a happy smile. She remembered his face, though maybe he wore his hair a bit differently now, but it was still most definitely Mark, Dyson’s long lost-just-found-out-he-existed-and-happily-took-him-in son. One of the only memories Kenzi had of Mark was when she came to visit from Spain the first time around and they shared a flirtatious greeting towards one another. Back then, she was doing it for fun and it wasn’t very serious. She’d still been getting over Hale’s death. But now, she was free to get her flirt on for realz if she so chose. She missed Hale greatly, but going so long without the feeling of being loved and loving in return was starting to cause a new ache inside of her.

She left her suitcase off to the side of the bar where no one would bother with it and walked her way over to the bar counter, her high heels clanking against the wooden floor.

“Hey, what’s a girl got to do for a drink around here?” she said, waiting for Mark to recognize her while simultaneously surveying the room for Dyson.

Mark’s back was turned to the register, but he quickly threw his head over his shoulder and back toward the register, not even seeing her face or recognizing her voice. But why would he? It wasn’t like she was expected. “Sorry, miss, I know there’s been sort of a long wait. We’re pretty swamped right now. What’ll it be?”

Kenzi smirked. “’Miss,’ huh? That’s not what you called me last night.” She couldn’t resist pulling his little shifter leg. 

He spun around immediately, though he was sure he’d spent the night at home watching movies with Vex. At first he didn’t recognize her, since the last time he’d seen her, she had blonde hair. Now, she had her usual mane of raven black hair and straight across bangs. “Oh my god, Kenzi! You’re back! Haha!”

Maybe he was only acting excited because he was in customer service mode, or maybe he really did miss her charms, but he grabbed two shot glasses and poured a moderately expensive brand of vodka into them. “This one’s on the house,” he said, pushing one of them towards her. He kept the other one on the counter and looked around.

“Great, thanks. Who’s the other one for?” she asked, quickly throwing back the shot and letting the warmth of the vodka fall down her throat. She let out some air through her mouth and smiled. 

“Bo’s not here with you?” asked Mark.

“Shh, buddy, she doesn’t know I’m here yet. You’re the only one who knows, so don’t say anything! It’s a surprise,” Kenzi said, taking a seat and reaching for the second shot. She made a motion that silently asked Mark if he wanted it or that it was okay for her to take it. He nodded, probably too much of a goodie goodie to drink on the job. Plus, his dad would probably kill him.

She took the shot, waited a few seconds, and felt the burn enter her empty stomach. “I should probably order some fries. I haven’t eaten for hours.”

“Yeah, you smell hungry,” Mark said absently, wiping down the counter with a towel. Tickets were piling up next to him. “And wet.”

Kenzi froze and widened her eyes. Her expression then turned jovial. “You do realize how that sounded?” She shook her head, watching Mark grasp what he’d said.

“Oh, god, I didn’t mean it like that,” he amended, grabbing one of the tickets and reading it. “I just meant, the rain—and—panther nose. I can smell feelings on people… mostly… sometimes… I’m not very good at it yet, but I’m getting better. And hunger is really strong and hard to ignore.”

“Relax, Marky-Mark. I’m messing with you.”

Mark paused and tapped a pitcher of beer for a big top in the corner of the bar. He set it on a tray for a waitress to run. “Pfft, yeah, I knew that. Obviously.”

A man at the other side of the bar was watching Kenzi. He looked very unkempt, his salt and pepper hair straggly and his dirt brown clothes wet from the rain. His eyes were small and beady, and they were laser-focused on Kenzi. She ignored it, but she couldn’t help but think she was free game for any Fae now that she didn’t _belong_ to any of them. The thought of some weirdo wanting something to do with her sent a shiver down Kenzi’s spine. 

“Sheesh, what’s Beady’s problem over there?” she said to Mark, pointing with her head to the guy. “It’s not polite to stare, sir!” she enunciated dramatically.

“Oh, him? I’ve seen him in here a couple of times. He’s a creep. He follows girls out of here, especially the humans that some Fae bring in. I think he feeds on them. But there’s nothing we can do about it unless it’s inside.” Mark poured Kenzi another round, but this time, he mixed up a cocktail with a little umbrella for her.

“Yikes, not a good idea for me to walk in here on my own, is it?” Kenzi said, saying out loud what she had been thinking. Her hand grazed something hard inside of her coat pocket. She patted it and felt reassured. “Speaking of which, where’s your Pops? Your Daddio? The wolf loins from whence you came?”

Mark chuckled, shook his head, and replied, “I think he’s on his way. He’s not working tonight, but he was supposed to drop by to hang out for a bit. Let me go call him to make sure. I’m sure he’d love to know who just walked into the Dal.” 

“Aww, you mean me,” said Kenzi, spinning around on her bar stool. The thought of seeing Dyson again made her giddy, almost giddier than the thought of seeing her best friend. But Dyson _was_ her best friend. Her other best friend. The one with the six pack and super wolf strength and the one who always had her back, and she his.

“Yeah, I mean you. I’ll be right back. Help yourself to more vodka, and stay out of trouble. Don’t piss off Beady Eyes any more than you already have,” said Mark, going into the room with the giant beer keg to make the call to Dyson.

_Psh, I’m not afraid of Beady Eyes_ , thought Kenzi. She shot a glance in his direction and sipped her drink, giving him a faux flirtatious wink. He watched; his eyes were fixated. She reached for her own throat and made a Shakespearean gagging death scene which ended with her cheek on the bar counter and her tongue outside of her mouth. She lifted it up moments later and waved her hands up for applause that never came.

“Come on, that was art,” she mumbled, rolling her eyes at Beady. He downed the last of the scotch he was drinking and gave her a serious death glare. She could have sworn she saw a creepy smile play across his beady little eyes. 

_Note to self: don’t walk out of the Dal alone_ , thought Kenzi, wide-eyed. She spun her chair in any direction but Beady’s and sipped her cocktail, waiting for Mark to return. 

She inspected the liquor choices, eyeing up the top shelf that Trick always said was off limits. Kenzi pouted, hoping Dyson was less stingy with his friends.

Distracted, Kenzi didn’t notice the big cold presence behind her until hot heavy breaths rolled off her neck and made her shoulder twitch. Beady Eyes was behind her now, and Mark was nowhere to be seen. The other patrons in the Dal noticed, but she was a human. Food. They didn’t care, and she belonged to nobody. The only one there who could defend her was her. Maybe back in the day, someone would have paid it more attention. She was a known face then, best friend to the Unaligned Succubus. Now, she was just some random human who thought she belonged here. But that wouldn’t stop Kenzi from picking back up where she left off: badass.

“Yo, Beady Eyes, ever hear of personal space? There’s this bubble, see, and you’re in mine. So back off,” Kenzi said sternly, her jaw set and her eyes still not making contact with his.

She felt a hand on her arm, cold and clammy. “I don’t think so, sweetheart. See, I couldn’t help but notice how good you smell coming in from that rain out there. We’re gonna take a little walk.”

Kenzi shifted in her seat, disgust oozing out of her pores. “First of all, eww. Second of all, eww. I don’t think so.” And she elbowed him in the groin and started to scream for help. “Mar--!”

That was when Beady’s cold, clammy—no, actually, very _slimy_ —hand cupped her mouth. A wave of supernatural calm fell over her. She could feel her eyelids getting heavier for a moment. He then dragged her small body out of the chair. Kenzi tried to kick and flail her arms, tried to grab for something to hit him in the head with. But now she felt so tired and hypnotized. It was like he had emitted some sort of tranquilizer through his skin when he touched her. She could feel her consciousness fading very slowly, her free will following suit. But it didn’t seem to be his goal to make her pass out. Kenzi got the feeling he liked them alive and squirming, and she shuddered at the thought.

She tried to ask what kind of Fae he even was, but it was futile. Her mouth made no sound. They passed a lot of Fae on their way outside, and Kenzi’s eyes were round and reaching out for help. Some of them rolled their eyes at the human, while others continued to laugh and joke. 

They were outside suddenly, and the rain was pouring harder now. It beat down against Kenzi’s skin faster than her heart was pounding against her chest. She was still kicking and trying to scream to no avail. His grip was tightening.

“Dinner time,” he hissed, pulling her into the back alley. He shoved her against the edge of the stone building and pinned her throat to it with his forearm. He removed the hand from her mouth and flashed a hideous smile at her. 

His face had transformed now as he smiled. His beady eyes were all black now, filling the sclera ominously. But what frightened Kenzi even more was his grin, full of now dozens of pointed, razor sharp teeth. 

Kenzi gulped, or tried to gulp. Whatever tranquilizing power he had over her, it was gone as fast as it came, as if he had to actively channel it for it to work. “Get off of me,” she choked out, barely even audible, especially with how loud and hard the rain was crashing down. 

His mouth opened wider and wider, forming a large _O_ shape. His face was inching closer to hers, and he looked her up and down, searching for a place to bite. 

She tried to lift her leg up behind her to remove her shoe, which had an impressive stiletto, but it was difficult. She couldn’t reach with her head pinned against the wall. 

_Damn it,_ she thought. _Well, I’ve died once before. It’s not so bad—wait. No! The dagger!_

She just remembered. In all of the adrenaline flooding her brain, all the anxiety she was experiencing about seeing Bo and Dyson again, she forgot she came in with a small dagger in her coat’s inner pocket. Just in case something like this happened where she needed to defend herself. She didn’t _want_ to use it; it was supposed to be as a last resort. It was now or never.

She squirmed, reaching for the dagger, but he was pressed against her now, sniffing her skin, making it impossible to reach. 

She thought for a split second, shoved her knee at his groin this time—not that it really did her any favors the first time—and he backed up slightly. It worked, and it gave her a chance to pull the dagger from her leather jacket.

“You should really visit a dentist about your little problem,” spat Kenzi, pointing the dagger at his chin. He snarled angrily at her before she shoved it up from under his chin towards the roof of his mouth. 

He gagged, and there was a terrible squishing noise of blood oozing out of his mouth and brand new piercings. Choking up for air, he clutched at the dagger stuck in his face and fell into a puddle. His head hit the concrete. Kenzi heard an agonizing crack from the impact, stared at his motionless body, and began shaking violently from both the biting cold of the rain and the scene she had just witnessed. The dead body she just created.

She heard footsteps approaching and like a deer in the headlights, she froze. Someone was coming.

“Kenzi?”

She recognized that voice. Warm, deep. 

It was Dyson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry this is so long. Do you like long chapters or do you prefer short ones? Let me know. This is a cliffhanger; the next chapter will pick up exactly where this one leaves off. I know, two chapters into a fic about Kenzi and Dyson and you still don't see them together. In the next chapter, their reunion is guaranteed! Promise! Let me know what you think and leave Kudos if you liked it.


	3. Set Fire to the Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dyson takes Kenzi back to the loft for the night, showing her some much needed hospitality.

Kenzi’s face was blank, but she was still shaking. “D-man, so glad you could make it. Little late though, aren’t you? Could have used you, like, ten seconds ago.” She let out a giggle born of hysteria, her voice going all high and whiny the way it did sometimes. But her expression was blank again. Slowly, she fell to the wet ground and on to her knees. Dyson ran to catch her and held her head in his hands. They slid around her face as he brushed hair out of her crystal blue eyes. 

“Kenzi. Kenz,” he said, trying to remain calm over his human friend. Maybe if he was younger, he wouldn’t be able to stop the little waves of panic trying to wash over him, but with over a thousand years of life under his tail, there was no way he would let it take over. But it wasn’t like he could heal her mind or body the way he could heal Bo. Kenzi was human, so incredibly fragile, and sometimes it was more obvious than others. This was one of those times. “I’m taking you inside,” he said finally, picking her up. But she brought a hand to his chest, stopping him.

“No, D… people… will see…” She was having a panic attack. She could hardly breathe. She just killed someone. Someone who just tried to eat her. This wasn’t the reunion she imagined, nor was it the way she wanted Dyson to see her. He was used to seeing her weak, but never like this. Never as a murderer.

Sure, she had helped kill Underfae in the past, but they hadn’t been real people anymore. Beady Eyes was a certainly a creeper, and it was kill or be killed, but that didn’t ease Kenzi’s mind at all about what she had done.

She just wanted to pull herself together and tell him that she was fine, hoping he wouldn’t take her to Lauren and Bo. She wanted to say that she could get through this. No, that she was already over it. But that would have been a lie. She was a survivor, a fighter. Or at least she used to be. She wasn’t the praying type, but if she was, she would pray that this panic attack wouldn’t last much longer. It didn’t help matters that she had two shots, half a cocktail, and nothing to eat any time recently.

“Well we can’t stay out here. You’re shivering,” he said, clasping her hands now and showing them to her. It was still pouring rain, and Dyson couldn’t offer her anything warm or dry. Instead, he dropped her hands and shook off his own coat, wrapping her up in it. “Let’s go.” He picked up her entire body with such ease. “I’ll take you to the loft. You’ll be safe there. Is Bo near?”

Bo, Bo, Bo. Of course. It was their first time seeing each other in two years and his first thought was Bo. He was only asking for Kenzi’s sake, but her mind was spiraling. He didn’t even know that she came here alone. 

“Dyson, please, don’t be mad,” she said weakly with a hint of fear and frenzy coloring her voice. “I didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean it, I swear.”

Dyson was almost at his car, Kenzi in hand. Dang, he was fast. He put her in the back seat, took her cold hand gingerly, and said, “Listen to me, Kenzi. It’s not your fault. I’m not mad. It’s going to be okay, Kenz. I promise.” He stared at her again, making sure she really understood him. She nodded, her body still shaking, and he reciprocated with a little bow of his head. He shut the car door and drove off to his place. 

*****

The car ride had calmed Kenzi down ever so slightly. She was coming out of her panic attack when Dyson tenderly put her on his couch.

“Are you all right?” Dyson said, kneeling over her.

Her bright eyes were still wide, her body still shivering, but she could control her breathing, so she spoke. “Better. Still c-cold.” 

He ran to go fetch her something dry, an old button-down shirt in navy blue and a pair of black yoga pants that Alicia left. He walked back over to Kenzi briskly, clothes in hand, and grabbed a towel from the closet on the way.

“You can change into these if you want. They probably won’t fit very well, but they’re clean. The pants were Alicia’s. She kept them here for our training sessions, but… she won’t miss them,” said Dyson, mentally leaving for a moment but quickly coming out of it. He was kneeling over the couch, over Kenzi. Despite the terrible situation they were in, he couldn’t help but feel a wave of joy that she was back. He really missed her. 

And even though she _did_ smell really intoxicating from the rain mixed with her usual fresh scent, he couldn’t stand to see her so miserable. 

Kenzi straightened up, throwing the clothes behind her on the couch and wrapping her slim arms around his neck for that much needed hug.

She came at him so fast and with such unexpected force that if he had been human, she would have knocked him to the ground. Instead, he was able to slowly wrap his own arms around her torso, just holding her. She nuzzled her head into his neck and spoke softly into his scratchy skin. “This wasn’t what I had in mind for my first day back.”

He smiled, loving that quality about her. Turning grim situations into something lighter. “I know,” he said quietly, focusing on keeping the hug friendly and not tightening his hold. It was hard when she smelled the way she did with her warm breath on his neck, holding her so close to his chest. He wouldn’t be the first to break away. Dyson didn’t think he even cared if she never released him. He hadn’t held anyone in this way in a while, which was unlike him. Kenzi knew Dyson as a sort of womanizer, but ever since he got his love for Bo back (thanks to Kenzi), there was no one he wanted to be with but her. Holding Kenzi reminded him that there was more out there to be explored, that maybe he shouldn’t just give up on it all. Especially now that Bo was engaged.

Kenzi felt protected now; she needed that hug. She almost didn’t need to change clothes anymore because the embrace she shared with Dyson and his wolfy self was soothing and warm, despite his own clothes being wet, clinging to his chest and abdomen. Kenzi wasn’t seeing anything new there, though. She had always known Dyson was in impeccable shape. It just never occurred to her to be interested before, him being Bo’s and all. But damn, she could have clung to him longer if she wasn’t so uncomfortable in her wet clothes. 

She finally pulled away and looked him in the eyes. “I missed ya, D-man.” 

He could smell her anxiety melting away and a new scent that was—no, he must have been reading the smell wrong. Kenzi smiled and turned on the couch to gather the dry clothes. 

She cleared her throat and said, “Bathroom?”

He stood, and on his way up, he lent his hand to help off the couch. She took it, tugging at her wet clothes awkwardly. She was sure her hair was a ratty mess by now, too. Sure that she had raccoon eyes from all the makeup that must have washed away. She needed to change and clean herself up so she could drown in some of Dyson’s secret whisky stash and fall into a deep sleep.

“It’s that way,” Dyson pointed, trying to avert his eyes from her wet chest, but it wasn’t easy. She already took her leather jacket off, and underneath she wore a simple black tank top and fingerless fishnet gloves. Her shirt clung to her body, showing off her petite frame, curves he wasn’t aware she even really had, and porcelain skin. 

Sure, they swapped bodies for a brief period of time years ago, but his focus wasn’t on exploring Kenzi’s body without her permission, a courtesy she hadn’t exactly returned when she was inside of _his_ body. He was starting to regret that decision looking at her now. His goal at the time was to reverse it as soon as possible. It had impressed him, being in Kenzi’s small and weak body, that she would ever think to join them in battle. He took his wolf strength for granted most of the time, but being inside of Kenzi gave him perspective and allowed him some semblance of modesty and appreciation for his nature and abilities.

“Thanks,” said Kenzi, who gave Dyson a strange look for staring. It wasn’t really like him to look at her that way. She supposed it was just because he hadn’t seen her in such a long time. She walked in the direction of his bathroom, looking back and pulling at her wet leather skirt, which was making her skin itch. 

When she looked back at him, he was making his way back to his room to change out of his wet clothes, too. He already had his shirt halfway off, making her do a double take. He was still as fit as she remembered. It was a nice perk, having a gym in his loft. She shook any weird, non-friendly thoughts away and continued forward.

She was very much looking forward to not being all soggy and prune-y anymore. Kenzi shut the bathroom door, walked over to the mirror, and stared at her reflection. It wasn’t as bad as she thought. A few hairs out of place, but mostly just damp and wavy the way that the rain’s humidity always made it. Her eyes weren’t puffy or red because she hadn’t cried. But her makeup told a different story. Huffing, she grabbed toilet tissue and ran it under the faucet for half a second. She cleaned up the black remnants of mascara from under her eyes and wiped her index fingers over them, washed the rest of her face with a splash of warm water, and dried off.

Kenzi took her high heeled boots off first, socks following afterwards. Her toenails sparkled in a shade of sapphire blue. Her bare feet faced the cold of the linoleum floor, and she winced. Dyson hadn’t given her any socks to wear, so she took off her skirt and shirt, revealing her black bra and cotton panties. She took the dry towel she brought in with the clothes, dried her skin off, and wished she hadn’t felt too awkward to take an actual shower. But it was quicker this way; she just wanted some Southern Comfort and a warm blanket to cuddle into. Well, maybe a cuddle buddy, too. Just hugging Dyson felt like the warm welcome home she had been looking for in the first place. 

God, it had been so long since she did… things… with a man. She hadn’t done anything but kiss since Hale died, and her mind shouldn’t have been going there about Dyson, but she couldn’t stop herself. Something inside of her was awakened by _something_ , and she wasn’t sure what. The time spent apart from him? The fact that Fae and humans were free to be involved intimately now? That innocent hug that maybe both of them were too scared to admit was less than innocent? She had to confess that a man who knew how to be gentle when it counted, like Dyson, was a major turn-on.

Her face was kind of hot now, turning red from these unfamiliar thoughts. Sure, it was obvious that Dyson was basically sex on a stick. Bo knew that from the get-go. But Kenzi never had the chance to dip her feet in that pool for Bo’s sake. Kenzi could see in Dyson’s eyes a sort of emptiness, a longing to find purpose again, and a willingness to make Kenzi his top priority. She wasn’t one to normally be a martyr, but she was pretty sure now that she was a murderer that she didn’t deserve all of the warm fuzzies he was providing.

Besides, he would never go for it. Right? Hell, when Inari the Kitsune had pretended to be her and attempted to seduce Dyson in this very apartment, he _killed_ her. There was no way he would ever be interested in a cuddle session, probably not even platonically. Definitely nothing more. Not that she would rush into things if Dyson did feel something for her – that was more Bo’s style, which was all coolio, but not Kenzi’s thing. While she often joked with Bo about Dyson’s wolf junk and things getting hot and heavy with them, she didn’t feel sexually attracted to just anyone. It was usually only people she felt a strong emotional connection to, like Nate, Hale, and now… Dyson? Kenzi liked herself some mushy romance and good old-fashioned courtship. But she wasted enough time before even admitting her feelings about Hale to anyone, including herself, and she wasn’t about to let that sort of thing happen again. 

But maybe the eve of her first solo Fae murder wasn’t the best time to ask to go grab a frickin’ coffee sometime. 

She shook her head and grabbed the navy blue top he picked out for her. It was very noticeably oversized on her thin frame, reaching down about mid-thigh, but it was dry, warm, and smelled of fresh linen and pine, like Dyson’s skin, and that consoled Kenzi. 

She grabbed the yoga pants next, scrunching her nose up at them. Alicia left them here? Dyson said she wouldn’t miss them. Did that mean she wouldn’t be bothering them, that she was out of his life nowadays? Or did it mean that she had, like, ten pairs of black yoga pants and could afford to lend them out? Kenzi hoped it was the former. Of course, she didn’t understand why she had this aversion to Alicia. Okay, so it was probably jealousy. Kenzi was supposed to be the only human in her Fae friends’ lives. Not some curly-haired woman with a pretty smile. 

There had to be something to indicate whether or not Alicia lived here, she thought, mild obsession taking over. She opened the medicine cabinet, searching for women’s deodorant, period meds, a pink razor, _anything_. But there was nothing but boy shit, and nothing flashy, at that. _Oh thank god_ , Kenzi thought. They must have just been something Alicia left behind once… hopefully months and months ago.

She decided not to wear some other girl’s pants, so she tugged down at the shirt, which was long enough to cover anything inappropriate. She took a final glance in the mirror and ran some fingers through her black hair to try to comb it through, adjusting her bangs last.

_That’s as good as it’s gonna get_ , she thought to herself, exiting the bathroom slowly and playing with her fingers. She made her way back to the couch, where she planned to crash for the night. 

Dyson was in the kitchen. Kenzi heard some glasses clanking melodically, the sweet sound of beautiful alcohol being poured reassuring her that Dyson knew her well. Her heart swelled and she smiled softly.

“Thanks for lending me the shirt,” she said to announce her presence, clapping her hands in front of her core awkwardly. 

“You’re—“ Dyson began, but he looked up and saw her not wearing any pants and was caught off guard. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen that image before – he was reminded of Inari, too – but that hadn’t been the real Kenzi. And this was a more mature Kenzi, albeit she was only two years older. But she was real and in his apartment and, just, not wearing paints. It was not unwelcome. Her legs were slim and toned, and she was bobbing up and down on her heels awkwardly. “—welcome,” he finished, clearing his throat in that deep, low growly tone that was so familiar to her. “Whisky?”

She walked towards him graciously and took the glass. Kenzi wasted no time, chugging the light brown liquid like water. It went down, warming up her insides as it went down, like setting fire to the rain. “More please.”

He chuckled. “Sure.” He took a sip of his own drink while he poured her a double.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about, D. Keep those comin’, barkeep,” she teased, avoiding the inevitable questions he’d be asking her in about… point two seconds.

“Kenzi…” he started, putting the top back on the liquor bottle, “At some point, you’re gonna need to tell me what happened.”

She was halfway through her second glass of whisky, curving it towards her chest in her hand. There it was. She couldn’t escape reality forever, but she could stall a little bit. She was entitled to some rest before being questioned. A sigh escaped her lips and she couldn’t bring herself to look Dyson in the eyes. “I know, and I will. But… not tonight. I just… want to sleep, I think. If that’s okay.”

“Of course. You’re free to sleep in my bed tonight,” said Dyson, and quickly added, “I’ll take the couch.”

“Dyson, no. I couldn’t put you out like that. _I’ll_ sleep on the couch. Sleep in your own bed,” she said, playing coy. It was obvious she didn’t really want to.

“Nice try. Not happening.”

“Oh thank god,” she said quickly, wiping imaginary sweat off her forehead. “I mean— If you insist.”

“I do,” said Dyson, finishing his share of whisky. “And I thought you should know that, uh, Mark— he took care of it.” 

_It_ , thought Kenzi. She knew without him saying so that what he meant was the body of the dead Fae they left in the alley near the Dal. 

She muttered, “Great. I’ll send a thank you card.”

Shit, she didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. But if Mark hadn’t left her alone in the first place, she probably wouldn’t be in this mess. Kenzi knew (for the most part) that she wasn’t the center of everyone’s universe, but everything was just so fucked up that she could afford to sound a little bitchy for a day or two.

Dyson ignored it and said, “Let me know if you need anything. Get some rest. We’ll talk in the morning.”

Kenzi hoped that “morning” meant noon or later. She was really feelin’ the sleeping in thing. But that was doubtful.

It seemed like he was trying to get her to go to sleep because he himself was tired, so she got back on her feet, set the empty glass down, and headed to his bed. “Good night,” she said. “And Dyson?” she added, a thought entering her mind. 

He perked but made no sound, waiting for her to continue.

“Please don’t call Bo.”

“Why not?” he asked.

“I want to do that myself,” said Kenzi, chipping at the black paint on her fingernails nervously. “She kind of doesn’t know that I’m in town yet.”

Dyson nearly choked on his drink and made a controlled coughing noise. “She doesn’t even know?”

Kenzi pouted, eyebrows coming together in a worried way. This was why she didn’t want him getting mad earlier. She couldn’t take it, not from him. “I’ll explain everything tomorrow. To everyone. I just need to forget about it for a few hours. Please. Please, Dyson. Don’t be mad.”

“You’re going to have to come to terms with what happened, Kenz. You can’t run from it forever,” Dyson said calmly, not in a hurtful way, but rather the way a financial advisor would talk to a client drowning in debt. It was certainly how she felt, anyway.

At that, she burst, the mature demeanor she maintained up until this point deteriorating. “You think I don’t know that? I’m young, Dyson, but I’m not stupid! In case you didn’t notice, I didn’t exactly plan for this to happen. It wasn’t like I was sitting at the Dal and thinking, ‘Hmm, you know what would really _ice_ this cake? Being mind controlled and attacked and then forcing myself to shove my favorite dagger up that guy’s ugly face!’” she spat, heart pounding. All of the progress she made coming out of her panic attack was diminishing.

Dyson remained oh so cool and composed, which sort of bothered Kenzi, but she supposed it was favorable to him letting his wolf out and lashing back at her. “I didn’t say you were asking for it. I just don’t want you to shut yourself out and pretend that things are okay; it’s not healthy. You’re strong, Kenzi; I really believe that. I think you forget that about yourself sometimes. You’ll be okay, but you have to believe it too.” He walked toward her as he spoke those words, and he was only a few feet away now, closing the gap between them. He took her by the shoulders, treating her like a newborn kitten that needed one needed to handle with care. “You’re okay. Say it.”

Kenzi was staring up at him with wide eyes, trying to catch her breath and slow her heart rate. When he touched her, it only made her heart flutter more sporadically, clouding her brain up. She wasn’t sure which emotions she was supposed to be feeling anymore. She was back to the thoughts she was having in the bathroom. 

“I’m, uh, okay,” she said, clearing her throat and darting her eyes slightly to the right and back. 

“What are you?” he said, raising an eyebrow with serious eyes with a playful smile starting to form.

“Dyson, this is dumb.”

“What are you?” he repeated, gently shaking her shoulders once in a teasing manner.

She groaned and stomped her bare foot down, unable to stay mad. “I’m cold and I’m tired and I’m annoyed at you,” she said with the hint of a smile starting to form.

“Close enough,” Dyson said light-heartedly, releasing her. 

“Thank you,” Kenzi said, glad to be rid of his confusing hold. “I’m off to catch some Z’s.” She spun and rubbed at her eyes with her left hand when she felt his big wolf hands catch her right hand.

“Kenzi, wait,” he said, making her a bit dizzy by spinning her back around. She almost poked her own eye out.

“Geez, warn a girl, wolf man.”

“Sorry. Just… sleep well.”

“Tuck me in with that bottle of whisky on the other pillow and we’ll see,” Kenzi said mischievously.

He smiled down at her, noticing how even in the dim lighting of his loft at this late hour, her eyes were so bright and almost glowing with playful naughtiness. Kenzi was nowhere near as good at holding her liquor as someone Fae, but boy did she love to practice building her tolerance.

“Ah, yes, the adult version of a glass of warm milk and a bedtime story,” said Dyson, nodding. 

“Precisely.” Kenzi coughed and squeezed his hand, which he didn’t even realize he forgot to let go of. He moved it away from her and slipped it into the back pocket of his jeans, which were starting to feel tighter inexplicably.

“If I promise not to kill any more Fae tonight, you think I could finish that bottle in bed?” she laughed, but only because of how pitiful that sounded.

“Well I don’t know about whisky, but I make a mean grilled cheese.” He walked toward the kitchen and behind the counter to grab a sauté pan, bread, butter, and cheese.

Kenzi stared up at him, watching him gather all of the ingredients and utensils. She didn’t know he could cook. She just figured he ate raw meat and protein shakes, not that she’d ever seen him do it. But he was a _wolf_. Didn’t they eat that gross stuff?

“I don’t know, I don’t want you to dirty up any dishes for me. I should really sleep,” she started, but the thought of cheesy goodness in her mouth made her stomach growl. “Okay, maybe one sandwich. Only because I haven’t eaten in, like, eight hours.”

“Atta girl,” he said, buttering the bread. “Now is this for here or to go? Because I’d prefer not to get crumbs in the bed sheets.”

Kenzi smiled, took a seat, and said, “Well, technically, you wouldn’t be the one making the mess.”

He looked up at her and let out a low rumbling laugh. “Far be it for me to tell a lady what to do in bed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, they interact at last. Not under the best circumstances, but the future holds some brighter times for our wolf shifter and human duo.
> 
> What happened with Alicia? What exactly was that Fae that tried to kill Kenzi? How will Bo react to all of this? And will Kenzi really ask Dyson to grab that cup of java? Find out next time!
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed! Leave some Kudos if you liked this chapter and leave a comment if you're feeling up to it. Thanks for reading.


	4. Crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dyson's feelings for Kenzi are more confusing than ever, not that she notices. They'd both prefer to think they're just friends, but things don't look that way when Bo arrives.

It was pitch black in his apartment as Dyson sat lying on his couch. But the sound of quiet sobs coming from the direction of his bedroom was enough to make him open one eye awkwardly.

So Kenzi was finally letting the dam break, he thought. It couldn’t have been easy, her first solo Fae kill… and after so much time away from all of the Fae drama, too. Dyson was sure this would be enough to drive her away again, to make her book a ticket back to her human life in Spain where she living not just normally but glamorously, waited on by her own servants. 

Dyson fought with himself internally, wondering whether or not to go in there and see if she was okay. He knew that, obviously, she was _not_ okay. But what could he really do? He’d said all that he could on the subject, and until she gave him more details about what went down, he couldn’t be of much more comfort, could he?

But to ignore a friend so clearly in pain was just cold. Dyson may have been able to do that when he lost his love to the Norn, but he wasn’t some empty shell of a person anymore. There was no way he could ever just sit there and pretend to be asleep while Kenzi was so evidently crying a room away from him.

He slowly stood up, yanking a thin quilt off of his tall frame, leaving his bare torso exposed to the cool air of his man cave. He grabbed the pale purple button-up shirt he set down on an adjacent chair and put it on, leaving the buttons undone as he sauntered his way toward his bed and Kenzi.

Kenzi’s sobs stopped when Dyson got close. He guessed that she heard him coming and tried to pull herself together, but he wished she hadn’t. He wished that she knew it was okay to feel what she was feeling, that she could be that way around him. That he loved his best friend no matter what. 

Dyson stared down at her until she finally wiped her eyes and looked up behind her at him. “Sorry if I woke you,” she whispered, turning her body so that she didn’t have to strain her neck. She sniffled, somehow managing to be cute even in spite of her salty tears and excessive mucus. “I’ll be out of your hair tomorrow, D.”

Dyson’s shoulders slumped, not enough for Kenzi to visibly notice, but he could feel a sort of melancholy overtake him. That she thought he was bothered by her presence, that she was unwelcome and a burden for him to bear? It made his heart ache. It could never be like that. Kenzi was special to Dyson, and if she thought otherwise, he would blame himself for not showing her.

“Kenz, you know you’re always welcome here. You can stay as long as you need,” he said, sitting down on the bed next to her. He threw in a joke to try to cheer her up, prodding a finger at her upper arm very lightly. “Just don’t drink all of my booze while I’m not home.” 

She looked intently up at him, her silvery blue eyes resembling a rain puddle reflecting a cloudy sky, and she giggled. But after two small bursts of laughter, she was back to that heart-wrenching weeping that Dyson couldn’t bear. 

He couldn't pretend to understand the mystery of women, but without hesitation, he took her close to him. “Hey, shh, Kenzi. It’s okay,” he said quietly, so soft and gentle as he always was with her. He never had to be this way with Bo, but Kenzi was different. She was human, feeble, and he adored her as a close friend generally does, so he felt the need to protect her. But he couldn’t do much to ease her mental and emotional suffering. His heart went out to her simply for her human weaknesses, but adding to that a new psychological torment and everything else she’d lost in her life? He couldn’t stand to see her hurt even more beyond that. 

She leaned in toward him, taking in jagged breaths of air in between cries. She grabbed at his shirt, balling it up in her fists to keep from falling down into his lap as she rested her head against his chest. Dyson put his left hand on the side of her head, pressing her closer instinctively and protectively while stroking her soft black hair with the same hand. 

“It’s okay,” he murmured again, moving his hand from her hair to her shoulder and upper arm. “It’s okay.”

A moment later, Kenzi wasn’t crying anymore, but her head was still nuzzled against his chest, one of her dainty little hands centered over his heart. A few more minutes passed as they sat together like that, and Dyson’s almond-shaped eyes started to feel heavier. He looked down at Kenzi, about to ask if she needed anything to help her fall asleep, but she was already out like a light.

_Crap_ , thought Dyson, both not wanting to risk accidentally wake her by moving and wanting to get up so he could try to fall asleep himself. On the couch. Far away from the human with the soft skin and silky hair who looked _really_ good in his shirt. Much better than he ever did. _I’ll just rest my eyes._

Dyson held Kenzi, slouching the two of them down on the bed while trying to keep her head cradled onto him. She didn’t seem to wake up, so Dyson wrapped himself up in his blankets, putting most of them on Kenzi.

He shut his eyes. His plan was to get up if or when Kenzi started to snore. But suddenly, he felt Kenzi’s small hand run down slowly from his heart to his belly button, grazing over his exposed abs with the amount of pressure a feather would give. Okay, so maybe her hand just fell down there. But it gave Dyson goose bumps, another reason to get out of that bed. He still wasn’t sure what he was feeling for Kenzi. It was new to him, thinking of her that way. Romantically. Intimately. She was always the jokey sidekick with a flair for drama and a charming little talent for thievery and conning. He used to see her as sort of a little sister, but the fact that inches below her hand his pants started to feel a bit tight for a moment? That two more inches down and she would have been in private, invite-only territory? That was not a feeling a big brother would have. 

So Dyson focused on something else. He lay there, inhaling deep breaths, counting backwards from ten. He couldn’t help but notice the smell of the earthy rain dried into Kenzi’s skin, and it reminded Dyson of the misty forests his wolf explored while he was still young and new to shifting. His consciousness faded to thoughts of roaming free in the wilderness on all fours, wind in his ears and dirt beneath his claws.

_I’ll just stay here for a few minutes…_

And dreams of being a young wolf ensued, his howls echoing through the trees the perfect lullaby. He felt like he was home with Kenzi at his side.

*****

Rays of sunlight began to filter into Kenzi’s closed eyes, but no matter which direction her body turned, it seemed to sieve into her eyelids, causing them to burn red. She groaned, her head pounding from all the vodka and whisky from the night before. She began tossing and turning to feel for her phone to check the time when she noticed that Dyson was laying next to her, fast asleep.

 _If D-man’s still asleep, it’s gotta be too early not to be dreaming_ , thought Kenzi, making a point not to bounce or shift around as much. She slowly scooted back down and rested her head on the pillow, confused about the sleeping arrangements. That was when she remembered crying herself to sleep in Dyson’s arms, and she became mortified.

But not as mortified as she was by the realization that they weren’t in the room alone. Kenzi’s heart threatened to leap out of her chest in surprise. There was a familiar curvy brunette with dark brown eyes hovering over the foot of the bed with leather-clad arms across her chest.

It was Bo. 

“I’m sure this isn’t what it looks like, right?”

Kenzi froze, not even hearing or caring about whatever Bo had just said. She didn’t care that Bo wasn’t supposed to know she was in town yet, that it was supposed to be a huge happy surprise. She leaped out of bed, ran over to her best friend, and wrapped every limb around her. Bo laughed cheerfully, her poker face melting away. Kenzi took a step back, beaming, and joined Bo’s hands with her own. They jumped up and down, around in circles, squealing about how wonderful it was to see each other.

Behind them on the bed, Dyson stirred, awake now. He propped himself up on his elbows and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “Bo? What are you doing here? Why didn’t I hear you come in?”

The squealing stopped, and Kenzi bit her lip, turning around to watch the shitstorm that was about to unfold.

“I guess I’m just sneaky like that,” snapped Bo, turning her attention to the wolf. “The real question is: why didn’t you tell me about last night? Why did Mark come to mine and Lauren’s apartment at five in the morning to drop off a suitcase but not the person it belonged to?” 

_God damn it, Mark_ , thought Kenzi. She wondered just how much the young panther even knew about what happened. She was pretty sure he knew zilch. At least he thought to drop her stuff off somewhere safe. She hadn’t exactly planned to leave it at the Dal last night. She was thankful that her precious shoe collection and high-end makeup was secure at Bo’s place. 

She cracked her knuckles, ready to explain herself so that Dyson could remain in Bo’s good graces. After all, with Trick gone, Bo was the head honcho, the one everyone answered to when the Ash wasn’t controlling their lives. Before Kenzi could get a word out, Dyson cut in.

“Because, Bo, you would have _rushed_ over here, guns blazing, and Kenzi wasn’t ready for all of that after what happened,” said Dyson, speaking for her. Kenzi scoffed, slightly offended that he was talking about her like she wasn’t in the room.

“Hey wolf boy, I can speak for myself, bud. Thanks, ‘preciate it,” Kenzi said, stepping forward and putting her hands up as one might do to stop a fight between two people. She turned to Bo, eyes going big and pleading. “Bo, I’m sorry. I wanted to surprise you. I was going to stay in Trick’s old lair and then stop by yours and Lauren’s place today, but there were a few… delays.”

Bo put a hand on her hip, waiting for some sort of explanation. “Kenzi, come on. You should have told me you were coming to town—I would have met up with you, made sure you got there safe. What happened, anyway?”

Dyson stood up and buttoned his shirt up with expert speed. “I’ve been waiting to hear this story myself.”

Kenzi felt cornered. She could feel the warmth of the metaphorical spotlight radiating through her body. It was much too early and there was much too little caffeine coursing through her veins. She groaned, “Coffee first. Story-time will have to wait for the Kenz to caffeinate. And pancake-inate. And egg-inate. And lots and lots of bacon-ating! Or should I say bacon- _eating_? Also, is it brighter in here than usual, or is that the hangover talking?”

*****

The weather had improved tremendously. The morning sun was still pretty low in the sky, casting a radiant glow through the small diner that Kenzi chose to cure her hangover. The trio sat by a large window, and Kenzi wished she had her suitcase with her so that she may wear her sunglasses. Instead, she supposed she would be roughing it, the only accessory on her face being the circles under her eyes from sleep deprivation.

They all ordered coffee immediately, which the server poured first, and then they ordered their food. 

The house was packed, and Kenzi’s patience was wearing thin as she sat with a rumbling stomach waiting what seemed like forever for her chow to appear in front of her. At least she had her coffee to wake her up. She sipped it black, letting its warmth and bitterness fill the void in her stomach.

“This stuff is great, isn’t it?” said Kenzi dreamily, pointing at her mug like she had reunited with a long lost lover.

“Okay, Kenzi. Enough stalling. Tell us about the guy in the alley,” said Bo calmly, taking a sip of coffee much creamier than Kenzi’s. 

Dyson waited quietly, eyes never leaving hers. With the light from the window flooding in, her pupils were so small that the enchanting pale blue of her iris made him feel like he was drowning with no desire to be saved. But he shook those thoughts away, trying to focus on the words coming out of her mouth.

Kenzi explained everything, leaving no stone unturned, knowing no detail should be spared. Bo and Dyson took turns looking at each other nervously, making Kenzi anxious as she finished with, “And then Dyson showed up, and… he knows the rest.”

Bo nodded attentively, and then their server walked over and readily put their long-awaited food on the table in front of them. Kenzi immediately shoved two strips of bacon into her mouth with one hand, crunching on its crispy goodness. She poured mounds of sugary syrup on her blueberry pancakes and rubbed her hands together, laughing evilly and excitedly.

“Any idea what kind of Fae this thing was?” asked Bo directly to Dyson, who had yet to touch the steak and eggs he ordered. Both Bo and Kenzi knew that Dyson had been around far longer than them. He was no expert, of course, not the way Trick had been, but he had studied all of Trick’s old books after he passed away as a crash course.

“Sounds like a Hirudo,” he said finally in a deep voice.

“What the hell is a Hirudo?” said Bo, digging in to her omelet. 

“Hirudos are ancient Fae. Just imagine the most unappealing person you can think of; they’re probably a Hirudo. Basically, they’re blood-sucking leeches with shit for charm, so they secrete toxins from their pores when they’re hunting for blood to satiate them.” Dyson paused, picking up a fork and stabbing his eggs with it before shoveling a bite into his mouth. “Kenzi, I don’t think you realize how lucky you were that he didn’t bite you. It would have poisoned you.”

Kenzi’s pulse quickened at the thought that things could have gone horribly wrong. Well, more horribly wrong than they actually had. “How comforting.”

“Well hey, at least now you know, right? You did what you had to do to survive. How did you say you killed him again? Up through the chin? How did you even know that was a weak spot, Kenz?” said Bo curiously, nudging her friend lightly with an impressed expression.

“I didn’t,” Kenzi confessed. “I just couldn’t stand to look at his ugly grill anymore.” Thinking about it caused her to visibly shudder with abhorrence.

Dyson hid a smile with his hand after forking a bite of rare steak into his mouth, forever amused by Kenzi and the way she was ignorantly intuitive, if that wasn’t an oxymoron. “Well, you did good. Last week, I heard rumors flying around the Ash’s compound that there was a Hirudo on high alert. Hordes of Light Fae were reporting sloppy feeds outside of local watering holes. That must have been the guy. It wasn’t my case, so I didn’t try very hard to find out what was going on. Now I wish I had.” He threw Kenzi a soulful glance, eyebrows furrowed as usual. “I’m going to have to report this to the Ash. You’ll be in his good graces, despite being human. You really did the Light and the Dark a favor, Kenzi.”

“Aww, don’t beat yourself up, D-man. The Kenz took care of it. So what’s the commission on catching the bad guy? I take payment in the form of cash only,” said Kenzi, talking with her hands and pointing a strip of bacon at him. “And don’t let me catch you slackin’ again, wolfy. So what’s my next assignment? Because if you thought that was good, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” Kenzi amended, “Actually, we’ve sort of been to war together, so I guess you _have_ seen it all.”

Dyson shook his head, rolling his eyes in an attempt to hide a school boy smile. God, what was happening to him? This human was making him feel young and foolish, two things he grew out of long ago, noble soldier and wolf with a thousand years to his name and all. 

Her words entertained him, but she was wrong. He hadn’t seen it _all_. Kenzi continued to surprise him. 

His mind wandered to a strangely erotic fantasy where she was taking him by his shirt sleeve, lustful eyes glancing back at him as she swayed her hips to the back room of the restaurant. They were in the hallway near the restrooms, and Kenzi was unbuttoning the top few buttons of the shirt he gave her to wear, which she still adorned. He watched intensely, low growls of pleasure erupting inside of him, when she rammed him against the wall, knocking down a “Restrooms” sign. She was in control, and he let her force him about, waiting to see what she would do next with a pleased smile on his face. She pressed her body against his roughly, and he felt all of her softness, all of her toned body rubbing onto him. Their mouths met, her lips softer than rose petals, biting at his hungrily, moaning into him as he growled back deeply with just as much desire. His wolf wanted to come out and play. She trailed her index finger down his torso, looking down and back up at him with those diamond blue eyes. Her hand reached the growing bulge between his legs, and she was breathless. 

Seductively, she whispered up to his ear, “Have you been waiting as long as I have to do that?”

He wished it could continue. Better yet, he wished it really happened and that she would surprise him in more fulfilling ways for that brief moment, but snapping back to reality made Dyson’s skin hot. With the two girls staring at him bizarrely, he had to quickly collect his thoughts and feelings, making an effort to shake it off by pulling at his shirt collar nervously and failed miserably. Of course, Bo could read sexual energy on people, and Dyson’s energy was sky-rocketing. He was sure that if Bo read him right now, he would be at least an eight. He had to be more careful where his mind wandered next time Bo was around.

Bo caught the entire exchange full of mild flirting and the distant look in Dyson’s eyes when he went into fantasy mode, and she fluttered her eyes back and forth between them. The heat radiating off of Dyson was impossible to ignore, and normally she would have assumed it was her that affected him in that way, but he was looking right at Kenzi the entire time. “What’s going on there? What was that?”

Kenzi wasn’t sure what the hell Bo meant, if she was being honest. Dyson always found her quirky nature endearing, and he wasn’t as desensitized as he once might have been. Their time apart really seemed to make Dyson appreciate Kenzi more. That was all it was.

“Bo, chill. Can’t the guy be happy about his undercooked cow without the twenty questions? Because if we’re doing that, it’s my turn,” said Kenzi animatedly, looking to change the subject, which Dyson was silently thankful for. “Tell me all about the proposal. What did you say? How did you say it? Did you buy a ring? How many diamonds does it have? Gold or silver? How many questions do I have left?”

“Okay, fine, pretend nothing is happening,” said Bo, unconvinced. “I’ve got my eyes on you two.”

Kenzi snorted and gave Dyson a crooked grin. 

The three friends sat there until Dyson’s shift at the precinct, and for the most part, they enjoyed the rest of their meal. But Kenzi had this nagging feeling born of the fact that her Succubus bestie and her favorite wolf were exchanging some strangely serious glimpses at one another. After everything she just told them, it wasn’t fair if they were withholding information from her, especially if it had something to do with that Hirudo that she killed. Even if it was super duper top secret Fae business, that never stopped them from including Kenzi before. Why now?

Not one to linger and sulk about things that were out of her control, Kenzi resolved to poke and prod about it some other time. 

Her stomach was full of delicious food, but her eyes still felt dry and tired from a whole lot of crying and a whole lack of sleep. It was time to go take a nap on Bo and Lauren’s couch before forcing Bo to go out and buy a wedding planner.

And then there was the whole only-brought-the-essentials thing. Kenzi had no clothes, unless Bo kept what she could salvage after she burned the Clubhouse down. She would like to get out of the stylish leather skirt she had on… so she could burn it. It was possible that it had blood or evidence that linked her to the Hirudo’s death. And, yes, Dyson was probably duty-bound to tell the Ash that his human friend was the one who brought the leech to his demise, but she didn’t want the bad juju associated with it.

For a moment, Kenzi wondered what the odds were that the Ash would seek an audience with her. Most Fae thought of humans as being of lesser importance than waste bins, which was ironic since most of them fed off of humans in some way or form. It wasn’t Kenzi’s first time helping to save the Fae from war and hardship, not that killing the Hirudo came at all close to those things, but it was one less thing for them to worry about.

Now that she thought about it, she should at least get a gold star sticker for helping out. Let Dyson go and tell the Ash what happened.

Until she would hear more about it, Kenzi daydreamed about how nice it had been, staying the night at Dyson’s. How effortlessly she had fallen asleep once he was there to hold her, a familiar embrace and a steady heartbeat to lull her to sleep. She thought about what it would be like to do that again with a little less crying and a little more kissing—

_Oh shitsickle_ , Kenzi thought, getting nervous as she stared across the table at him as he put his grey coat on. _I have a crush._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you guys noticed that all of my chapter titles (and the story title) are song titles? I'm going to try to keep that trend going. Hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned for more. Comment and let me know what you thought, and if you liked this chapter, do me a favor and give some Kudos! Thanks!


	5. Hit Me With Your Best Shot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week after the attack, Kenzi's feeling stir crazy. Ready for a night of fun, she calls the loneliest person she knows: Dyson. But when Kenzi makes a bet with him, she's soon made to regret it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is sort of a filler chapter, and yet it's quite long. I hope that you still enjoy!

Crashing on Lauren and Bo’s couch was fun and all, but if Kenzi woke up with pain in her neck after just one more night, she swore she would go bananas. And it wasn’t that she didn’t love Lauren and Bo very, very much, but if she had to listen to them get it on again, she would cut her own ears off with the sharpest item in her vicinity, which was currently a dirty cereal spoon. So, that would take a while. Sure, Lauren was nice and really loved Bo and made her the happiest queen in all the land, but Kenzi couldn’t crank her iPod any louder, and she didn’t have the change to spring for sound-proof headphones.

Ever since Kenzi realized she had a teensy crush on Dyson, she started acting very odd around him and refused to stay at the loft. She visited sometimes to keep him company when he got out of work, if he wasn’t busy. When they spent time together, it mostly consisted of Kenzi watching him over a magazine and a vodka tonic as he thrust his fists at the punching bag in his gym while she pretended not to notice the sweat dripping from his shirtless body. That was why she preferred to keep that can of worms closed and stayed home with her girls.

But damn, not tonight. It had been at least a week since she killed that Hirudo with no news of the Ash wanting to see her. She kept her evenings free all of those days just in case the leader of the Light Fae summoned her, but she was done with that shit. It was time to pay the Dal a visit and do something fun. And maybe give Mark a piece of her mind for narking on her.

“Bo? Lauren?” said Kenzi, removing an ear bud from her ear and walking up the stairs hesitantly. She could hear their very sensual sounds drafting down the staircase, then Bo’s giggling and Lauren’s sighing. Kenzi’s eyes widened and she stuck her tongue out, pulling a weird, gagging face. It was probably best not to include them in her little adventure to the Dal. They seemed to be having plenty of fun already.

Instead, she grabbed her coat, traded her combat boots for a pair of studded, spiky black heels and gave Dyson a call. She learned her lesson about going places unaccompanied. In the past, she went to the Dal dozens of times alone, or she would call Hale to meet up with. But Hale wasn’t around, and neither was Trick to watch over her. What if some creep crashed her solo party again? Kenzi didn’t want to find out, so she put on her metaphorical Begging Hat and smiled when Dyson finally picked up the phone.

“Kenzi?” 

The familiar deep voice on the other side of the line, saying her name, made Kenzi’s heart beat faster. He sounded a bit out of breath, but Kenzi recognized it as his post-workout voice. “Yo, D-man. You got plans? ‘Cause I’ve had just about enough of this _staying in_ thing. Bo and Lauren are at it again.”

Without needing an explanation, Dyson asked with interest, “What did you have in mind?”

“Oh. You know, I thought we’d go the salon, get our hair and nails done. If you want my advice, I think you should stay away from cool shades; you’re definitely more of a summer,” Kenzi joked, grabbing the spare key that Lauren and Bo made for her and locking the apartment door behind her. She knew Bo wouldn’t mind if she borrowed the car for a few hours.

“How dare you. I’ll have you know that I am equal parts summer and winter,” said Dyson lightheartedly. Surely that was a smile that Kenzi heard in his voice. 

“You wanna meet me at the Dal? I’m in the mood to do some shots and shoot some pool,” said Kenzi, making a gun with her finger, aiming it with one eye closed, and pulling the imaginary trigger. 

Dyson chuckled, hearing her little gunshot noise. He replied, “I’m on my way. Don’t leave the car until I get there.”

Kenzi unlocked Bo’s yellow car, climbed into the front seat, and said with sarcasm, “Sir, yes, sir!”

“I’m serious.”

“Okay, Mom.” Wait, nope, her mom would never care that much about her well-being. But it got her point across, which was that he was being a little too over-protective and controlling.

“Kenzi, please. Just wait for me.”

“You better hurry up and get your furry butt over there then! I can’t make any promises. See ya!”

With that, Kenzi hung up on him and tossed her phone in the passenger seat before twisting the key in the ignition. She gave a small giggle, drum-rolled the steering wheel excitedly, bit her lip, and felt a little anxious to see him.

The last time she was so anxious about seeing a boy, it was when she was realizing her feelings for Hale. Similar feelings were once again lighting up inside of her, illuminating parts of her that had been dark for too long. It was refreshing, being able to see them again, despite the little ache her chest felt thinking of her fiancé’s perfect, dorky Siren face. But she felt lighter these days, in general; she was no longer carrying a cloud above her head and mourning her losses. It was time to let the sun shine through those clouds again.

The Dal wasn’t too far from the apartment, so Kenzi was there in about ten minutes. Dyson’s loft was even closer, and she saw his car parked on the side of the street already. He was standing, leaning against it with his hands in his coat pockets. She turned the engine off and waited like he told her to. She was really just messing with him on the phone; she had every intention of doing what he said, even though the odds of someone attacking her were pretty unlikely. 

It was just a few minutes past ten, and there was a light fog covering the atmosphere. Dyson walked through it toward her, a brisk wind whipping his curly light hair back. He reached her car, tapping at the window on the driver’s side. Kenzi turned her head and manually cranked the window down.

“You got the goods?” she joked, grabbing her phone and stuffing it into her bra. Girl pockets were way too small these days.

“Ha-ha,” he said, opening the door for her. “Make fun of me all you want. This is how I can guarantee your safety.”

“I’m touched. Really, I am,” said Kenzi, blotting at imaginary tears. “A lowly human such as myself with her very own wolf bodyguard.” 

He smiled, shook his head, and grabbed her by the waist, shutting the car door. Now she literally _was_ touched. Kenzi felt a small shiver go up her spine at his hand just below her ribs, hyper aware of her current feelings for Dyson. She was starting to psych herself out, but she tried to keep calm, cool, and collected. 

Dyson wasn’t the most conversational person she’d known, but they knew each other for so long that sometimes, they didn’t need words to understand each other.

They made their way inside, Dyson’s arm still around her. Kenzi stared down at it with eyes only, then straight ahead inside the Dal. 

“So, the arm thing,” she began as he lifted it off of her, “is that for my safety, too?”

_Whoa there, Kenz. Are you sure you want to flirt right now? The night is young_ , she thought, unsure why she was trying to sabotage their just-friends fun time before it even started.

Kenzi chose her favorite bar stool, eyed up Mark behind the bar with mild contempt, and turned to Dyson for an answer. “I’m sure you were just being thorough. Literally guarding my body. With yours.”

Dyson didn’t really know what to say. Anything he said might let Kenzi know the way he felt for her, the sudden attraction he felt towards her, and he wasn’t sure he should tell her. “Yeah, you know how thorough I like to be. Gotta cover all the bases.”

Kenzi nodded, flagging Mark down with a squinty expression. “Yo, bartender! I’ll have a vodka Red Bull with a side order of lies and empty promises. On the fly, pretty please.” With her lips pursed, she batted her lashes at Mark, who came over, looking to Dyson with pleading eyes.

“Oh, hey Kenzi,” he said, tail between his legs. “I’m glad you’re okay. I heard about what happened in the alley—“

“‘Oh, hey Kenzi’,” she mocked, cutting him off and staring down at her fingernails.

“Isn’t that a _little_ childish?” said Mark, leaning on the counter with his hands far apart. He looked between his wolf daddy and Kenzi. Using his eyes, he seemed to be begging Dyson for a little bit of help in giving Kenzi a reasonable explanation. 

Dyson simply shrugged and folded his hands together as if to say he was on his own with this one, a smile playing across his face.

“Yeah, it is, isn’t it? Kind of like how it was childish for you to tattle on me to Bo,” said Kenzi, tapping her fingers on the countertop. “Tell ya what, kid. You sort of did me a favor by snatching my suitcase. So as long as you’re an attentive bartender tonight, I’ll let you off the hook.”

Mark stared at her through narrowed eyes, trying to determine if she was being serious or not. But in the end, he replied, “Okay, so, one vodka Red Bull. Dad?”

So Mark was calling Dyson “dad” now, Kenzi noted. It was strange to think of him as a father, especially a father with a son right around Kenzi’s own age. 

“Our cheapest bottled beer,” said Dyson, almost making Kenzi snooze with how boring his choice was.

Mark nodded and walked off to get them their choice beverages, and Kenzi smacked Dyson squarely in the chest with the back of her heavily accessorized hand.

“D-man, you _do_ realize you own this place, right? You don’t have to pay. Why are you pinching pennies?”

Dyson rolled his eyes playfully. “That’s exactly why I’m pinching pennies, as you put it. I need to save the good stuff for the paying customers.”

“Oh no, no, no. Not on my watch. I did not get dressed up to get messed up alone,” Kenzi stated, trying to convince him to join her in her mission to do as many shots as she could. “You’re doing this with me. Two vodka Red Bulls, Mark!”

“Really, that’s not exactly my drink of choice, Kenz,” said Dyson. “Energy drinks and alcohol don’t really mix well.”

“Tastes good to me,” said Kenzi, sneering over him good-humoredly. “I don’t know about you, but I came out for some adventure, not to sit around drinking watered-down beers and watching the wood in here decay.”

She had a point. When was the last time Dyson actually had fun? Probably the last time he was with Kenzi, making grilled cheese in his apartment. It was hardly a coincidence. She so clearly made him feel like a new person; even doing remedial tasks felt like riding a roller coaster when he did them with Kenzi. 

“Fine, we’ll do one vodka Red Bull shot. But then it’s my pick, and you have to drink it, too,” said Dyson, rubbing his hands together with fake maniacal flare. 

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about, D!”

Kenzi stood, using Dyson’s shoulder to steady herself and push off of her seat. She was headed toward the pool table, so he stood up to follow her. Mark saw them get up and had a waitress send them their shots.

“Get ready for an ass-whoopin’, wolf boy,” said Kenzi, racking up all the balls and centering them at one end of the green felt table.

“You sure you’re up for this? I’m not going to let you win,” said Dyson, watching Kenzi as she grabbed a pool stick from the shelf and applied blue chalk tactically.

“Someone’s cocky,” she said, smirking up at him. In a Russian accent, Kenzi said, “What do you say to making this game a little more interesting?”

Dyson raised an eyebrow, grabbing a stick to play with as well. “It would be pretty dumb of me to make a deal with a con. Also, I’m still a cop. It can’t be anything illegal.”

“That’s just hurtful,” Kenzi said, blowing the tip of her pool stick and setting down the chalk. “So is that a yes?”

Dyson rolled his head to the side and back up again, sighing. He might regret saying this, but he did it anyway. “Yes.”

“Excellent,” said Kenzi mischievously. “So, if I win—“ A pretty waitress who had been eyeing Dyson up arrived with their shots, and Kenzi stopped to clink tiny glasses with him. “—hoo, that’s some good stuff. Anyways, as I was saying, if I win, you have to… streak. In a location of my choosing. And if you win, I will… do whatever you want me to.”

God, if Dyson could do whatever he wanted with Kenzi… it would probably involve picking up where his fantasies left off. And, well, he couldn’t actually make a deal like that. If or when he had the pleasure, it would also be her pleasure, not an obligation to fulfill. He would never do that to any girl, let alone his best friend. Dyson was many things – charming, a heartbreaker, a player, maybe even a womanizer in the past. But he was no creep.

Instead, he thought of something else he’d been meaning to make her do with him. “If I win, you have to finally let me train you to fight.”

“Ugh,” Kenzi groaned dramatically. “That’s, like, a long-term commitment, D! Plus, Bo already taught me some stuff. I don’t see what the point of agreeing to this is—“

“So you admit it – you think you’re gonna lose?” Dyson boasted, getting very close to her. He towered over her, trying to intimidate her. He knew that she wouldn’t let it scare her, despite their obvious size difference. In fact, he would bet anything that it would have the opposite effect. 

He was right. She pushed him by the chest to put distance between them. Confidently, she said, “Not a chance, Kujo. You’re on. And your naked wolf ass is gonna be all over YouTube, buddy.”

Dyson smirked, putting his game face on. He put his hand forward for Kenzi to shake on. She did some weird secret handshake thing that he just let happen. Shaking his head, he motioned for the waitress to come over and whispered in her ear the secret shots he planned to make Kenzi drink. Kenzi felt a tiny pang of jealousy in her chest, and a mild irritation, that he was whispering in another girl’s ear. She shook it off, though, trying not to let it show on her face. 

They waited until they could down a few more before starting their game. Kenzi decided it would be more fun that way, but Dyson had to drink twice as much to get on her level of drunkenness. 

“You feelin’ this, D? Ha-ha, you wish you were feelin’ this,” Kenzi said, pointing at her body and making a peace sign. 

“You can try to distract me all you want. I’m still going to win,” said Dyson with buoyancy. She wasn’t wrong, but he couldn’t tell if she was only using her charms to derail him. “Ladies first.”

“That’s sexist—” she began, yet hobbled her way to the cue ball to break first. “Shiz, what was in that last shot? My mouth is on fire!”

“It’s an old recipe,” said Dyson. His alcohol tolerance was much more impressive than Kenzi’s, but she didn’t seem to mind. “It’s Tabasco sauce, cinnamon, and fireball whiskey.”

“That’s disgusting. I think I kind of like it,” she decided. She shrugged before shooting at the cue ball with her stick. She sunk two balls, both stripes, and pumped a fist in the air. She lined up her next shot, and before shooting, she threw her eyes up at Dyson. “I’m gonna make this as painless as possible. And hey, maybe we can do best two out of three.” She sunk another striped ball, grinning. “I’m feeling generous.”

Dyson watched her closely with a slightly dizzy head. His eyes flew to her cleavage subtly when she leaned over the table for the best angle to make the shot. She was wearing a corset blouse with long sleeves underneath, having found her old wardrobe after all, and the way it shaped her form was aesthetically pleasing. He cleared his throat, took another shot of whisky, and set the glass down as she missed.

“Damn it,” Kenzi mumbled. 

“That’s gotta hurt,” Dyson cooed, making his way around the table for his first shot of the game. “Time to watch the pro.”

When Dyson got five solid balls in the pockets in a row, he could hear quiet little curses escaping Kenzi’s lips. “Better find you a nice pair of boxing gloves. Maybe you can get them in black to match your shoes.”

Kenzi wrinkled her nose, though she wasn’t totally upset. Even if she lost, she actually won. She would get to spend more time with him and have an excuse to get out of Bo and Lauren’s hair. They hadn’t had a P.I. job in a while, so they hadn’t needed to get out much.

“It’s not over yet,” she said lamely, watching as Dyson got two more of his balls in. 

“You sure about that?” he grinned, lining up for his final shot. “Eight ball. Left center pocket.”

Kenzi waited, using her pool stick to lean against for support. She began chanting under her breath. “Miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss…”

_Clunk._

The eight ball sank into the pocket Dyson called, much to Kenzi’s dismay. Now she would never hear the end of it.

“Looks like I’ve won,” Dyson said, walking up to her slowly with his hands in the air. 

“Wow, I didn’t realize you were some billiards prodigy,” said Kenzi, setting her stick down with graceless annoyance. “Though I’m guessing you’re a little less tips-ay than me.” 

Dyson nodded, ever the quiet one, though he seemed very amused. “How excited are you, on a scale of one to ten, to start training sessions with me?”

Kenzi glowered at him and hopped on top of the pool table, reaching for another fireball shot and patting the table next to her so that Dyson might sit, too. “Negative seventy. Trillion. And a half. Plus pi.”

He smiled coyly, joining her on top of the pool table as she began digging around the pockets for balls to roll around mindlessly.

“Lauren learned a lot from my training. I think you’re being a little hard on me,” said Dyson, making conversation for once.

“That’s what she said,” Kenzi said, laughing. She rolled a solid blue ball into a corner pocket and cheered to herself.

Dyson had no idea what was funny about that, so Kenzi explained the joke, and then he chuckled.

“I walked into that one…” Dyson trailed, looking straight ahead.

“Do you really think you can teach me how to fight?” she said, surprising Dyson with a serious question. She stared up at him, taking her gaze off the table, bright diamond-like eyes shining into his. Sure, they were a little unfocused, but she smiled lazily up at him for a response, and he smiled back.

“You’ll be indestructible when I’m through training you,” said Dyson softly. Kenzi raised her eyebrows in disbelief, leading Dyson to explain himself further. “You won’t have my physical strength, but your spirit is stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. And I’ve lived a really long time. We’ll find your forte and play it to your advantage.”

“How are you so sure?” she asked. It felt to Kenzi now that they were the only two people in the Dal. She couldn’t see or hear anyone else, couldn’t focus on anything else, except Dyson.

“Because. You’re the most determined human I’ve ever met. And by far the bravest. I see what Hale saw in you,” said Dyson simply in a quiet tone. Their faces seemed to be getting closer together, but he caught Kenzi off guard when he said Hale’s name. She looked down at her beautiful shoes, eyebrows furrowed. Dyson frowned. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to— umm…”

“No, no, it’s fine,” she said, swallowing a lump out of her throat. “I just— I’ve been thinking about him a lot lately. I miss him so much, Dyson.”

Her hard gaze fell on him again, eyes still scrunched together. He knew exactly how she felt. He lost his Fae best friend and partner. Hale was irreplaceable. “I miss him, too.”

Kenzi sniffed dryly and changed the subject. “So, met any cute girls recently? Besides that waitress who’s _obviously_ into you.”

She butted his side with her shoulder, her mood desperate to change. 

Was the waitress into him? Dyson really hadn’t noticed. Maybe he was used to girls taking fondly to him, or maybe he had his eyes set on something or someone else. “Nah. Besides, Natalia works for me. And after Bo, things have been pretty quiet on that front.”

“That was two years ago, dude.”

Dyson nodded, rubbing at his beard for a moment. He was very aware of how long it had been since he was with somebody romantically. Sure, he brought a few girls home on lonely nights. He was still a man with needs and there was no point in wasting his everlasting youth and charm. But there was never anyone that he connected with the way he did with Bo or even Ciara. 

Kenzi cleared her throat and hesitated before saying, “Not even… you know… Alicia?”

He sighed, taking time now to jump down from the table and rub the back of his neck. “Things were complicated with Alicia. I don’t want to bore you.”

“Well, there’s no TV in here,” Kenzi started, joining him in getting down from the table. “Give me all the deets.”

The two friends made their way to a quiet corner of the Dal, near the fireplace with chairs and couches and a coffee table. 

Kenzi listened closely as Dyson explained what happened to his human from a couple years ago. How she started developing intimate feelings for him. How he even might have wanted to return those feelings, but his allegiance to Bo was always an obstacle. How even when Bo needed him to heal, Alicia just didn’t understand why he had to be there for her in that way, why it couldn’t be some other Fae. 

Kenzi muttered, “Once you go Succubus, you never go back. Trust me, I know. Just look at me.”

Of course, she hadn’t meant in a sexual way. She meant that after years apart, she returned. She still wasn’t sure how long she would be in town, if she would stay even after the wedding, but she was finding more and more reasons to. 

And with Dyson, it was more about being there for Bo however he could in whatever way she needed him to be. And she didn’t need Dyson for love — she had Lauren for that. But it didn’t stop the two of them from loving each other still.

“I guess not everyone is as understanding,” said Dyson, referring to the part where he would serve his queen by any means without a second thought. “When she decided she wanted to be unclaimed, she left town. I haven’t seen her or heard from her since.” In his head, Dyson compared Alicia’s departure to Kenzi’s. They were very similar. But in the end, he knew Alicia wasn’t coming back, and she would be better off for it. Kenzi, however, had matured while she was gone, if only slightly. And she was here, drunk with him like she never left.

“Well, if you ask me, it’s her loss,” said Kenzi, putting a small hand on Dyson’s knee and patting it. “Wait, didn’t you say you were training Alicia, too? How many girls have you tried this with, D-money?”

“Gosh, it’s gotta be, like… forty-two by now,” he said jokingly. 

“When do these sessions start, anyway? And don’t you dare say, ‘First thing tomorrow morning,’ because I swear I will bust some moves out all over your ass right now,” she said, putting up her fists and bobbing them in the air.

“I think we both might end up a bit too hung over for that,” Dyson agreed. “There’s no rush. Things have been pretty quiet with the Fae, other than… the other night.”

Kenzi nodded slowly, not sure whether she should ask him about the Ash now while they were trying to have fun. But she had a lot to drink, so she wasn’t really thinking too hard. “Yeah, I still haven’t gotten a call about it from the Ash’s minions. It’s pretty weird, right?”

She looked at Dyson closely, waiting for his response. His body tensed up. “Yeah, about that…”

“What?”

Dyson sighed, and it almost sounded like a growl. He ran his fingers through his curly hair and said, “I guess I forgot to tell you this. I didn’t tell the Ash that a human stopped the Hirudo.”

Kenzi’s mouth flew open, and she almost flung herself upward, out of her seat, but she remained sitting. “Dyson! What the hell, dude? Can’t you get in some major trouble for that shit?” Worry overtook Kenzi’s face.

Putting his fingers to his lips to signal at Kenzi to quiet down, Dyson took her by the arm very gently to keep her calm. Some people had turned to stare at them, but Dyson nodded and put his hands up to wave their nosy heads away. In hushed tones, Dyson spoke. “If the Ash found out the truth, yes, I could get in trouble for lying. But I couldn’t let you get more involved in Fae politics. Not when you only just came back to us.” _To me_ , Dyson thought to himself. “You’d been through enough. Don’t worry.”

“You shouldn’t have done that, you idiot. And you should have said something sooner. I kept my nights free in case I was summoned,” Kenzi said grudgingly, jabbing him in the arm with her elbow. “What did you tell the Light Fae about what happened then?”

Dyson rubbed his arm where Kenzi’s bony elbow poked him, mostly for her benefit. It really didn’t hurt. “I told the Ash that I smelled blood outside the Dal on my way in, and I found the Hirudo feeding on a human. I said that I killed it, and I brought its head to the Compound as proof. I told him I couldn’t save the human because it was already poisoned. He let that go.”

“Sheesh,” said Kenzi, eyes wide. “Don’t the Ash and Morrigan kind of look down on killing Fae bros over humans?”

Dyson shook his head. “Ever since they legalized human and Fae relationships beyond ownership, they sort of changed their tune. There are still a handful of Fae that don’t agree with the new regime.”

Mouthing ‘ah,’ Kenzi rubbed at her jeans and stood up, patting his shoulder. “I hope you know what you’re doing, D.”

Kenzi began walking toward the bar, and Dyson waited on the couch, deep in thought.

She was right; he was being foolish. It was dangerous to lie to the Ash, and he knew that, yet he did it anyway. For Kenzi. 

He would do anything for Kenzi, he realized. She was filling a void that developed inside of him over the past two years. Her lively energy was contagious. It made the ache inside of his heart disappear; all of his longing for Bo was a waning moon. And when the new moon came, it would illuminate as Kenzi, his new light in the night. 

Dyson finally stood up, following Kenzi toward the bar. He could feel the chemicals mingling in his body, and it wasn’t only side effects of the whisky. It was adrenaline and endorphins running through his veins. 

He watched Kenzi order a cocktail now, his elbow leaning onto the counter. Kenzi looked at him, running her eyes from his head to his toes and back up to his eyes again. 

“What?” she said, letting a nervous laugh escape her lips.

“Nothing, it’s just…” Dyson started, not sure if he wanted to say the words aloud. But the adrenaline and alcohol made him a bit less reserved and composed than usual, so he continued. “…you’re just really beautiful when you get all serious on me.”

Mark came over with her fruity concoction, and she nearly spilled it all over the place trying to grab for it without looking. Mark caught it before it hit the table, his reflexes superb. Kenzi was surprised by Dyson’s words, but she came to a rationalization. “Oh, okay, I see what’s happening. You’re d-r-u-n-k and now I have no ride home!”

“I could take you home,” said Mark, trying to build bridges with her again. “My shift ends at one o’clock. It’s a couple hours away, but—“

“That won’t be necessary,” said Dyson, turning his eyes to his son and then back to Kenzi. “And I’m not drunk. Maybe a little tipsy.”

“Oh,” said Kenzi quietly. “Then maybe I’m so drunk that I _heard_ you wrong because I could have sworn you just called _me_ , little human Kenzi, beautiful.”

Dyson walked up closer to her but kept their bodies separate. His wolf could see even in the dark mood lighting that her pupils were dilating the closer he got. He could smell her scent so strongly, that freshness like stepping outside on a spring day, followed by the cinnamon and whisky, and finally a new smell that Dyson could only place as unbridled arousal. He was intoxicated by her fragrance, looking down at her bright face and silvery blue eyes, all made up and looking just as perfect as she did the other night without effort. 

Kenzi thought her heart was going to leap out of her chest the closer Dyson got to her. But he stopped so he was only inches from her and said, “No, you heard me right. But you already know you’re gorgeous. You’ve said it yourself many times.”

Kenzi gulped but giggled and turned away, reaching for her drink. “Yeah, well I guess I always thought my super Kenzi powers didn’t work on wolves.”

“That’s my fault, then, for not saying so sooner.”

“You’re not gonna propose, are you? Because I came to back for Bo’s wedding, not mine,” Kenzi joked, nudging his arm.

Dyson smiled down at her and took a seat. While he could still smell excitement on her, he wouldn’t push her to admit it. Not unless he got really drunk. He decided to change the subject. “You still looking for a place to stay while you’re here?”

Kenzi nodded, playing with the mini umbrella in her drink. “I have a decent fortune that Hale left me still saved up. I bought lots of couture while I was in Spain, but I was going to use what’s left for rent or whatever. I could probably own a mansion if I wanted, but it would be so big! And empty! Ha! No more Bo-Bo, no Tamsy-wamsy, and especially no Hale.”

Maybe she was drunker than Dyson originally thought. She was starting to doubt herself again. He said, “You still have Bo. She will always love you. But she’s so happy now, and she deserves to be. You’ll find love again, Kenzi.”

She didn’t realize that Dyson could be such a hopeless romantic. Kenzi thought she knew him, but he was still surprising her. And even though she was drunk, she was as perceptive as ever. Somehow, she knew he was talking about himself, too. She looked him right in the eyes, searching into his soul. “So will you.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder the way she used to do with Bo. Dyson cradled her head, confused momentarily by her words. He felt how hot her skin felt and decided to get her home. “I think it’s time to call it quits, Kenz. Come on. I’ll take you home.”

“Can I stay at your place tonight, D? I’m not in the mood to hear all the bow-chicka-bow-wow tonight,” Kenzi mumbled into Dyson’s arm. 

Dyson had already told Kenzi that she was welcome to stay with him as long as she needed to. With that in mind, he said, “Of course. Come on.”

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and they both stood, side by side, and walked out of the Dal together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all I have for now! Sorry if it was boring. I'm still trying to work out a few things. If you have any ideas you'd like to share for this story, send me a message, leave a comment, etc.! I would like to hear from you. If you enjoyed, please leave Kudos! Thanks. See you next time.

**Author's Note:**

> There we go! What do you think? Leave some Kudos if you liked it and maybe comment down below any thoughts you might be having. I'd like to hear from you! And if there are ever any errors, I don't have a beta, so feel free to point them out if you see them. I'll try not to be too embarrassed. Okay, see you next time hopefully!


End file.
